The Board remands the claim for service connection for tinnitus in the right ear to schedule a VA examination due to an alleged in-service event and current disability.
The deciding factor: Additional development is warranted to correct a pre-decisional duty to assist error, as there is evidence of a current disability and an alleged in-service event, but insufficient medical evidence to establish service connection.
- Claimed conditions
- tinnitus in the right ear
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 6, 2025
- Citation
- A25096625
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 878 · Granted: 36% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted decisions on this site)
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
This is a plain-language summary generated by AI from a public Board of Veterans’ Appeals decision. It can contain errors — always verify against the original. Look up the original decision on VA.gov (opens in a new tab) using citation A25096625.
What this means for you
A remand is not a loss. The Board sent the case back for more development — often a new exam or missing records — before making a final decision. Many remands later end in a grant, and the decision spells out exactly what the Board wanted to see.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Board found that the Veteran's current lumbosacral disability, bilateral hearing loss, and tinnitus in the right ear are not related to service. The Board also determined that spina bifida is a congenital defect and therefore not service-connected.
- Granted
The Board found that the Veteran's tinnitus in the right ear did not manifest during service and is not related to his military service. Onychomycosis was granted as aggravated by service, with preexisting onychomycosis being aggravated by active duty.
- Denied
The Veteran's tinnitus in the right ear is assigned a 10 percent rating, which is the maximum rating authorized under Diagnostic Code 6260. There is no legal basis for the assignment of a schedular rating in excess of 10 percent for tinnitus in the right ear.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's appeal is remanded due to the need for additional development, including a VA examination to assess his ability to obtain substantially gainful employment given his service-connected disabilities.
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